Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2009-03-23-Speech-1-103"
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"en.20090323.15.1-103"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, I will probably not need the four minutes that are allocated to me at the start of the debate, as it is really a very simple and very pleasant matter that we are discussing today. We are discussing a new version of the Cosmetics Directive, which is now a regulation. This Regulation will, in fact, be brought up to date, and we would very much like to update it, improve it and make it more coherent.
We have three minor improvements in mind. On the one hand, the Regulation ensures that the use of carcinogenic substances in cosmetics has indeed been banned, but we have to keep a sense of proportion, so that substances which are permitted for use in foodstuffs are not banned for use in cosmetics, such as vitamin A or alcohol. This is something that the Commission has correctly recognised and taken into account in its proposal.
The Commission also rightly recognised the fact that new technologies, such as nanotechnology, need special attention, in particular when we are dealing with microscopic particles which may be able to pass through layers of skin. We simply want to ensure that they present no danger. Here, too, I am satisfied that we have achieved a compromise which I can wholeheartedly support.
Finally, Mr President, there is something else we have to address, namely the product claims. We also ought to examine them and bring them up to date. If we got here today, having rushed to get here, and if our deodorant promised us this morning that we would be sweat-free for 14 hours, but we are nevertheless totally covered in sweat this evening, then we are likely to be very surprised and say that there is no truth to the claim at all. Claims that deliver what they promise are an important part of an honest, credible product. We have legislation to ensure safe products and, at the same time, to ensure genuine and clear products.
I am very grateful for the excellent cooperation with the Czech Presidency. I would particularly like to thank Mrs Popadičová, who cannot be here today, but who really has done her best, something that has not always been easy in this Council.
I would also like to offer particular thanks to the Commission, whose cooperation was extremely constructive and successful. That, too, is not always the case in this Chamber. Moreover, I would like to thank my colleagues, namely my female colleagues who have been working on this issue for a long time. I would like to thank Françoise Grossetête, Margret Auken, Hiltrud Breyer and also Fréderique Ries, who cannot be here today, for their cooperation. We did not always agree on issues such as how to deal with notification in relation to nanotechnology and what should be done in terms of labelling, but we managed to reach an excellent compromise. I am very pleased about this.
I would just like to say something about the issue of labelling. I think that certain delegations, perhaps even my own delegation and my own Member State, need to take note of a few things. Labelling has nothing to do with warning signs. Labels allow consumers to make free and informed choices. Consumers have a right to be informed about nanotechnologies and to know that a specific substance contains particularly small, even microscopic particles. They have the right to decide whether they want to use sun lotion and whether they want to use the sun lotion on their children. Consumers have the right to decide. I myself would happily do it and would be happy to use the products myself. Others would not. However, it is important for us to make sure that all people are in a position to make these choices.
I know that you, Commissioner Verheugen, are going to make a statement today on the whole issue of preventing the counterfeiting of medicines. I am very grateful and I hope that you will also address the matter of the threat posed by, or the opportunities related to, internet trade. If you do this, then tomorrow when we vote on the version of the compromise which the Council already voted on last week will be a better day for some of my colleagues, who generally support this compromise, but would like some additional assurances. Thank you very much."@en1
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